CLEARWATER — A legal dispute between an airline and a jet engine company grounded a 130-passenger flight out of St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport Monday.

An afternoon Vision Airlines flight to Gulfport, Miss., was canceled after the plane was seized by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office as part of a court order out of Broward County, according to Pinellas Sheriff's Sgt. David DiSano.

A judge ordered the 737 jet seized as part of a lawsuit filed by CTS Engines, a Fort Lauderdale-based company, against Vision Airlines. CTS claims Vision owes $74,827.81 in back payments for a jet engine the Las Vegas-based airline leased from CTS, according to court filings.

CTS Engines released a statement Tuesday:

"This is an exceedingly simple case where one party simply stopped paying the other, without justification, in clear violation of a duly executed lease agreement … Vision Airlines had ample opportunity to deal with this matter so that it would not affect their customers. They chose not to do so."

Vision Airlines Senior Vice President David Meers had a different take on the plane seizure, which he said inconvenienced more than 400 passengers total, since the plane's Monday itinerary included subsequent flights to Sarasota, Fort Myers, and then back to Gulfport.

"What took place yesterday was little more than an ambush," said Meers. "They inconvenienced 400 people and tied up a multimillion-dollar airplane over a $75,000 dispute … and today CTS is no closer to getting paid than they were before they started this nonsense."

All but one of the 130 passengers set to fly to Mississippi Monday were headed for Beau Rivage Resort & Casino, which offers weekly package deals out of the airport. Beau Rivage will work with affected passengers on arranging return trips, according to resort spokeswoman Mary Spain.

Tuesday's Vision flight from Clearwater to Gulfport was sub-contracted to Sun Country Airlines, according to Meers, and the rest of the week's flights will go as scheduled. There was still confusion Tuesday over whether Vision had gotten its plane back, though. Meers said his airline had. DiSano said no, the plane is being held by the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office until further legal notice from Broward County.

The Tampa arm of Brazilian steelmaker Gerdau S.A. was cautiously optimistic Friday after the Trump administration took a big step toward a policy Gerdau has been vocally advocating for — higher tariffs on imported steel. "We’re hopeful that President...

Associated PressNEW YORK — Facebook is forging ahead with its messaging app for kids, despite child experts who have pressed the company to shut it down and others who question Facebook’s financial support of some advisers who approved of the app. Me...

Owners of affordable homes in the Tampa Bay region are seeing the biggest gains in equity among the nation’s top 20 housing markets. A bay area home now worth $110,000 rose 20 percent in value over the past year while a house now worth $337,400 incr...

The anonymous letter described a possible love affair at the top of the local jobs center. President and CEO Edward Peachey was in a romantic relationship with top administrator Haley Loeun, it said.It described how Loeun was seen at a conference co...

Outback Steakhouse and Carrabba’s Italian Grill have become household names in casual dining. Now, their parent company, Tampa-based Bloomin’ Brands is taking the "dining" part out in a concept that it’s bringing to Tampa Bay for the first time. A ne...

If you bought or sold a house in Tampa Bay last year, you were a player in one of Florida’s hottest real estate markets.Even though prices eased a bit from their torrid pace in 2016, the median cost of a single family home shot up 11 percent. That’s ...

Every year, millions of people play the Florida Lotto. Their chances of winning are about as great as those of being struck by a comet. Fewer than 12,000 enter a much lesser known lottery that also is run by the state. Yet the odds of winning are vas...

ST. PETERSBURG — Neither the Lutherans who first occupied the 4300 block of Central Avenue, nor the evangelical congregation that followed could ever have imagined tree houses sprouting in their church sanctuary.Yet that’s one of the plans of new own...

TAMPA — ConnectWise co-founder David Bellini won’t be prosecuted on a drug trafficking charge filed by Tampa police this week, the Hillsborough State Attorney’s Office announced Thursday. The county’s top prosecutor instead applauded police for helpi...

ST. PETERSBURG — The Tampa Bay Rays’ stadium may be named for PepsiCo’s Tropicana orange juice, but that’s not stopping the baseball team from switching its pouring rights to Coke.The Rays said Wednesday the ballpark would begin serving Coca-Cola pro...